Door-holder.



W. W. MONAUGHTON.

DOOR HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY e, 1908.

934,747. Patented Sept. 21,1909.

W/T/VESSES v I k] INVENTOH A T7'ORNEY.

WILLIAM W. McNAUGI-ITON, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

DOOR-HOLDER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, lViLLIAM W. Mo- NAUGH'JTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain Improvements in Door-Holders, of which the following is a specification.

The objects of the invention are to provide a device which can be inserted under the edge of a partly open door to hold the same against swinging in either direction; to secure a construction which shall facilitate the insertion of such a device; to provide a holder having wedging members which are always held in engagement with the door and which nevertheless can be adjusted to doors of different thicknesses; to provide a construction which shall project as little as possible from beneath the door, so that the holder will be largely hidden and inconspicuous; to secure a simple and inexpensive construction, and to obtain other advantages and results as may be brought out in the following description.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures, Figure 1 shows in elevation a door held in partly open position by means of my improved holder; Fig. 2 is a view of the holder in op eration, 011 larger. scale and looking edgewise at the door; Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but illustrating a slightly modified construction, and Fig. 4 is another view of the same sort illustrating a still further modification; Fig. 5 is a central section of the construction shown in Fig. 2, taken on line 00 thereof.

In said drawings, my improved door holder is shown as consisting of two members, 1, 1, resiliently connected and adapted to wedge under the door 2 from its opposite sides. These members 1, 1 are preferably somewhat elastic themselves, being made of rubber or similar material, and any tendency of the door to swing wedges the member on that side of the door only the more firmly between the edge of the door and the floor. Obviously the said members may be of various shapes, as for example they may be spherical, as in Fig. 2; they may be partly spherical and partly conical, as shown at 3 in Fig. 3, or they may be of the shape of a frustum of a cone, as shown in Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 21, 1969.

Fig. l. Many other shapes will readily suggest themselves, and I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to any particular shape. Furthermore, it is not absolutely essential to my invention that the two mem bers of a single door holder have the same shape. It is preferable, however, that the cross sectional shape of the members in planes parallel to the door, be circular, so that as the door holder is applied it can be rolled inwardly beneath the door, rather than slid. The two members are preferably connected at their nearest adjacent points beneath the door, and thus said connection is hidden when the device is in use. Various means of thus resiliently connecting the members will suggest themselves to a skilled mechanic, but I prefer, and have shown for purposes of illustration, a spiral spring 4. This spring is shown in the drawings as attached to the members 1 by means of littleeye-loolts 5 which extend clear through the members and have heads 6 at the opposite sides thereof. Of course any other attaching means could be employed, however.

The only essential feature of the connecting means is that it be longitudinally elastic, so that it can be more or less extended to enable the door holder to be applied to doors of different thicknesses, and furthermore so that when the door holder is applied the said connecting means will draw the two wedge-like members firmly into engagement on either side of the door, as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and l of the drawings. Any tendency of the door to move in either direction thus only increases the wedging of the member on the side toward which said movement tends.

It will be noted that the connection of the wedge-like members is at their adjacent smaller ends, or at a point on each member intermediate of the engagement at its opposite sides with the floor and edge of the door respectively. Obviously the device will be applied to a door by simply taking one member in each hand and separating them sufliciently against the power of the elastic connecting means so that said connecting means can be slipped beneath the door with one member on each side thereof. Then by simply releasing the members, the elastic connecting means will automatically draw them into holding engagement with the door.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new is:

1. A door-holder comprising two members each adapted to Wedge beneath a door, and means normally holding said members against separation and adapted to expand in the direction of a line connecting said members.

2 A door holder comprising two members and a spiral spring connecting said memhere.

3. A door holder comprising two members located in substantial al inement with the 1 longitudinal axial lines of said members and elastically connecting them.

4. A door holder comprising two wedgelike members, and means pivotally connecting said members.

5. A door holder comprising two wedgelike members, a spiral spring, and means pivo-tally connecting said spring to said members.

l/VILLIAM W. MONAUGHTON. In the presence of BERTI-IA S. FULTON,

ETHEL B. REED. 

